He might not have the best of Geppetto's Workshop at his disposal, but make no mistake -- Wes can be one hell of a "Challenge" puppeteer when he wants to be.

Though the two-time champ and his partner Theresa fell short of Power Couple standing on tonight's "Battle of the Exes 2" episode, Wes was somehow able to spare Team Grey from elimination and, more impressively, ensure a tough team -- Zach and Jonna -- was ousted. The day's winners, Leroy and Nia, initially planned to toss Jay and Jenna into the Dome, but thanks to some quick thinking and a well-planned escape route, he and Theresa found themselves in a comfortable position awaiting what seems like an eventual spot in the final.

"I am in awe watching this conversation go down," Theresa said of her partner, who acted as a conversational Houdini at the Power Couple dinner. "I always knew that Wes was good with politics, but this is a whole other level -- he is a genius."

Wes' master plans haven't always worked out perfectly, but that doesn't mean his bold moves have been any less impressive. Look back at some of his finest politicking at play, and tell us if you think he and T will make to to the end of the game!

Evan goes down, "The Duel"

As the game whittled down to a cast of exclusively strong players, Wes and Evan made plans to take turns in eliminations to send certain competitors home. But by the time Evan realized he was conned into calling out CT as his elimination round opponent, it was too late, and he was already gone.
Wes sways Landon, "Fresh Meat 2"

Landon, who won all but one of his "Challenge" seasons, did so without ever playing dirty...except for that one time Wes was around. When Wes convinced Landon that joining his alliance (and throwing Kenny into Exile) would extend Landon's life on "Fresh Meat 2," Landon reluctantly accepted, and for Wes, convincing the Golden Boy to play with fire was another manipulative feather in his cap.
D-Day's coming, "Rivals"

As far as the men of "Rivals" were concerned, no team had a chance to win the whole game as long as CT was still in the mix. So, in an effort to oust him and partner Adam, Wes tried to convince Paula and Evelyn to put CT and Adam at a disadvantage in the coming challenge so that Evan and Nehemiah could disqualify themselves, get sent in against CT and Adam and, ideally, send them home. Evelyn was right to have reservations, and accurately predicted that the plan would blow up in Wes' face, but no one can say he didn't give it his best shot.
Playing for the other team, "The Ruins"

On "The Ruins," Wes couldn't avoid the fact that his back was completely against the wall -- his team wanted him gone, and they were willing to send him into the Ruins until his flight home was secured. So Wes did the only thing he could do: He vowed to throw missions and help the Challengers team win in exchange for safety. Unfortunately, the plan didn't work in any way, shape or form, and Wes was eliminated about halfway through the game. But we've gotta give him credit for doing something with the little he had to work with.